LEON THEREMIN
Born: 15 August 1896
Died: 3 November 1993
Birthplace: St. Petersburg, Russia
Best known as: Inventor of the electronic musical instrument
The Birth of the Theremin
In the years previous to 1920, a young student, Lev Sergeivitch Termen (a name
which was thereafter gallicized to Léon Théremin), built an electronic musical
instrument in St. Petersburg. It was a Thermionic tubed instrument. Théremin was
not only a technician, but also a professional musician. He had studied physics
at the University of St. Petersburg, studying courses of music theory and cello
at the Musical Institute at the same time. In 1919, he had been nominated as
Director of the Technical Laboratory (vibration research) at the Physics and
Technical Institute. During a conference of Electrotecnicians in 1920, he
presented the Termenvoksa or Heterophone, or Theremin, as it was called
internationally. Those at the conference saw a small box with two antennae, one
on the right and one on the left. Could it be a new type of telegraph? Or an
electronic measuring device? Théremin moved to the front of the machine and
began working it. There were no handles or keyboard. He waved his hands above
the instrument like an orchestra conductor and seemed to obtain sounds as if by
enchantment.
How the Theremin Works
A small metal rod protrudes from the top of the music stand, from which there is
another metal coil located on the side. On the music stand itself, which is
connected to the power supply for illumination, rests the music score. The
conductor moves near and, having set off a switch, begins to wave his arms, as
if conducting. Immediately, sounds begin flowing out from a speaker pointed in
the direction of the audience. I certainly hope that the reader doesn?t think,
not even for a minute, that I would let a merely far-flung idea flow out from my
pen. It?s actually the invention, realized very practically, of a Russian
technician, Leon Theremin, who lives in America, where he has already given many
demonstrations. A large American producer of records and radio receivers has put
the new musical instrument out on the market ever since 1930. The instrument,
the ?Thereminvox,? has no keyboard, no strings, no horns, and no other devices
which would resemble a normal musical instrument. With one?s hand close to the
metal rod - the vertical antenna - you hear a sound which becomes ever lower as
the hand is moved away, while it becomes increasingly acute as the hand is
brought closer. Removing the hand completely from the presence of the antenna,
the sound ceases completely. It?s never necessary to touch the antenna. The coil
located horizontally on the left side of the machine - the horizontal antenna -
serves only for modifying the intensity of the sound produced. Lowering the hand
on the coil, the power, and therefore the volume, decreases. So, the right hand
regulates the pitch while the left hand regulates the intensity. With radio
receivers, in use for several years now, moving one?s hand close to the tuning
dial you are able to notice a kind of howling that ceases as soon as the hand is
taken away. This phenomenon was then suppressed with the use of screens, made
with metallic divisions between the various parts. Ever since that time,
Theremin thought about utilizing this phenomenon to create a new musical
instrument, which is precisely what he did. The operating principle is as
follows: the device produces two oscillations at an inaudible frequency by means
of two circuits oscillating at high frequencies. By moving one?s hands close to
the two antennae, the vertical one and the horizontal one, a connection between
the two circuits is produced. The overlapping of the two inaudible oscillations
creates a ?beating,? that is, further oscillations which are audible, whose
pitch varies with the movement of the hands. The sounds produced with this
system have some of the characteristics of a cello.
Born: 15 August 1896
Died: 3 November 1993
Birthplace: St. Petersburg, Russia
Best known as: Inventor of the electronic musical instrument
The Birth of the Theremin
In the years previous to 1920, a young student, Lev Sergeivitch Termen (a name
which was thereafter gallicized to Léon Théremin), built an electronic musical
instrument in St. Petersburg. It was a Thermionic tubed instrument. Théremin was
not only a technician, but also a professional musician. He had studied physics
at the University of St. Petersburg, studying courses of music theory and cello
at the Musical Institute at the same time. In 1919, he had been nominated as
Director of the Technical Laboratory (vibration research) at the Physics and
Technical Institute. During a conference of Electrotecnicians in 1920, he
presented the Termenvoksa or Heterophone, or Theremin, as it was called
internationally. Those at the conference saw a small box with two antennae, one
on the right and one on the left. Could it be a new type of telegraph? Or an
electronic measuring device? Théremin moved to the front of the machine and
began working it. There were no handles or keyboard. He waved his hands above
the instrument like an orchestra conductor and seemed to obtain sounds as if by
enchantment.
How the Theremin Works
A small metal rod protrudes from the top of the music stand, from which there is
another metal coil located on the side. On the music stand itself, which is
connected to the power supply for illumination, rests the music score. The
conductor moves near and, having set off a switch, begins to wave his arms, as
if conducting. Immediately, sounds begin flowing out from a speaker pointed in
the direction of the audience. I certainly hope that the reader doesn?t think,
not even for a minute, that I would let a merely far-flung idea flow out from my
pen. It?s actually the invention, realized very practically, of a Russian
technician, Leon Theremin, who lives in America, where he has already given many
demonstrations. A large American producer of records and radio receivers has put
the new musical instrument out on the market ever since 1930. The instrument,
the ?Thereminvox,? has no keyboard, no strings, no horns, and no other devices
which would resemble a normal musical instrument. With one?s hand close to the
metal rod - the vertical antenna - you hear a sound which becomes ever lower as
the hand is moved away, while it becomes increasingly acute as the hand is
brought closer. Removing the hand completely from the presence of the antenna,
the sound ceases completely. It?s never necessary to touch the antenna. The coil
located horizontally on the left side of the machine - the horizontal antenna -
serves only for modifying the intensity of the sound produced. Lowering the hand
on the coil, the power, and therefore the volume, decreases. So, the right hand
regulates the pitch while the left hand regulates the intensity. With radio
receivers, in use for several years now, moving one?s hand close to the tuning
dial you are able to notice a kind of howling that ceases as soon as the hand is
taken away. This phenomenon was then suppressed with the use of screens, made
with metallic divisions between the various parts. Ever since that time,
Theremin thought about utilizing this phenomenon to create a new musical
instrument, which is precisely what he did. The operating principle is as
follows: the device produces two oscillations at an inaudible frequency by means
of two circuits oscillating at high frequencies. By moving one?s hands close to
the two antennae, the vertical one and the horizontal one, a connection between
the two circuits is produced. The overlapping of the two inaudible oscillations
creates a ?beating,? that is, further oscillations which are audible, whose
pitch varies with the movement of the hands. The sounds produced with this
system have some of the characteristics of a cello.